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Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Fitness Product Review - Amphipod

I hate running with something in my hands. Maybe it's a mind game I play, thinking my "equilibrium" is off when I have a water bottle in one hand, and nothing in the other. Is that silly?

With my new found love of Spotify, I have recently ditched the small iPod nano for my hefty-in-comparison, iPhone 5. And despite all of the horror stories I have heard about getting the phone wet or dropping it and cracking the screen into a million shards, I continued to use it for the Rock and Roll Half Marathon and the Gasparilla Distance Classic, due to the endless amount of music I could get on my phone. (I mean, you can only listen to Pitbull so many times before you never want to here Mr. 305, again!) I tried running with it in my hand, at first and that was a fail. The expo at RNR also had cases that went on your arm which I was sure would driving we crazy or worse, leave a nice tan line. So I went with the onle standby and tucked it into my running shorts. Gross.

End result??? A salty, sweaty mess on my iPhone screen, and a semi-freak out moment when I could not slide my phone into the on position. My mission was to find a not-so-bulky waist holder that would hold my phone, and maybe some other personal items that would not drive me crazy on a long run.

After searching endlessly, the amphipod Micropack Smartview Plus ($32.00) was found, purchased and tested during my most recent Running for Brews run. This is a moisture protective case (wet suit material) with ventilation and a zipper closure which fit my iPhone 5, a key, money and my ID (not that I was carded when ordering a beer! Sad face.) The side clip which locked directly onto my waistband, gave me the ability to run at all different paces, without it feeling like I was being weighed down. It did not flop all over the place, like my bib belt, or a "fanny pack", either. I also liked that there were two holes in the cover to thread my headphones through.

This company has great customer service (was able to get this product overnighted with no problems) and has multiple holders, hydration and visibility products, which I will be purchasing for my next Ragnar.